Iran plans dayslong funeral for Supreme Leader Khamenei after war death
The casket of slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s granddaughter, Zahra Mohammadi Golpayegani, is displayed alongside the caskets of Khamenei and other members of his family during a viewing ceremony ahead of the dayslong funeral ceremonies at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Grand Mosque in Tehran, Iran, Friday, July 3, 2026.
Vahid Salemi/AP
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Vahid Salemi/AP
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran prepared Friday for the dayslong funeral of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with banners across Tehran urging the public to rise up in support of the Islamic Republic after the devastating war that killed the 86-year-old cleric.
The country’s theocracy expects to see millions flood the streets of the capital beginning Saturday in scenes reminiscent of the burial of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989.
That could provide a boost for Iran’s government, particularly as it tries to leverage its hold on the Strait of Hormuz in negotiations with the United States over a permanent end to the war, and as concern still lingers that Israel could attack yet again.
Middle East conflict
Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is killed in Israeli strike, ending 36-year iron rule
Despite that, a powerful general who leads Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard emerged publicly for the first time in months for the funeral. Other top government officials will also likely will be on hand alongside foreign dignitaries in a show of strength by Iran.
“As long as these people, who are chosen (by God), are on the field, we will definitely continue the same ‘no to humiliation’ policy that was founded by the Islamic Republic,” said Mohammad Hossein Rezaei, a volunteer preparing for the funeral Friday.
“We will continue our policy of pursuing independence, and decisions will be made inside the country, and the people will decide their own fate,” he said.
Caskets displayed in Tehran
Khamenei’s flag-draped coffin sat at Tehran’s Grand Mosalla alongside family members killed in the Israeli airstrike that came in the first moments of the war on Feb. 28.
The dead being honored include a son-in-law, his eldest daughter, a 14-month-old granddaughter and the wife of Iran’s new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the previous leader who remains in hiding after reportedly being wounded in the attack.
Religious leaders and foreign dignitaries walked up to Khamenei’s casket as a military band played or a man sang prayers. Iran’s Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and President Masoud Pezeshkian, key leaders in the country’s civilian government, all paid their respects.
Video published by Iranian state media showed an earlier mourning ceremony Thursday night for Khamenei. The black-clad mourners, whom state media identified as coming from families of those who lost loved ones in the 12-day war in 2025 and the recent Iran war, threw scarves and other items for attendants to brush against the coffin, a common practice in Iran seen as a blessing.
Later, state media showed images of Khamenei’s casket draped by a red flag with white calligraphy reading “Ya Hussein,” a Shiite expression in remembrance of the 7th-century martyrdom of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson. It had been flying over the Imam Hussein golden-domed shrine in Karbala, Iraq. The flag also traditionally symbolizes both the spilled blood of someone unjustly killed and a call for vengeance.
Iranian religious leaders and other mourners walk past the coffins of slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and members of his family during a viewing ceremony ahead of the dayslong funeral ceremonies at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Grand Mosque in Tehran, Iran, Friday, July 3, 2026.
Vahid Salemi/AP
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Top general appears for first time in months
Photos published online by Iranian state media showed Gen. Ahmad Vahidi attending a meeting Thursday about the funeral of Khamenei, then sitting alongside his casket as Iran’s theocracy held a smaller service for him Thursday night near the supreme leader’s former home in downtown Tehran.
“They must know that the pure blood of our martyred imam will mark another turning point in the victories of beloved Islam across the global arena,” Vahidi told state television in comments aired Friday. “They will take to their graves the wish to see this nation surrender. This nation will rise higher day by day through this pure blood.”
Vahidi has become a major player in formulating Iran’s tough stance in negotiating a possible permanent end to the war with the United States, experts say. He had not been seen publicly since Feb. 8, weeks before the Iran war began. Israel killed top leaders in Iran’s military and government during the war, and has threatened the life of the new supreme leader as well. Vahidi is believed to be part of a small clique in direct contact with the younger Khamenei.
It remains unclear whether Khamenei will appear at his father’s funeral. His father appeared in 1989 at Khomeini’s funeral, weeping visibly, as he began his journey to lead Iran for decades with an iron fist while confronting the West.
Israel’s repeated threats to kill Khamenei drew a warning from Iran’s joint military command Thursday, which told Israel and the U.S. “to avoid any miscalculation” over the coming days.
Funeral to go on for days
Beginning Saturday, Iran will hold the dayslong funeral for Khamenei and his body will be transported to cities in both Iran and neighboring Iraq. Authorities plan to shut down streets, airspace and daily life in Tehran as mourners commemorate the life of Khamenei.
In Tehran, images of the late Khamenei’s fist could be seen in banners and in a giant statue in Enghelab Square, framed by what appeared to be ballistic missiles flying through the air. In his first message to the nation, read by a state television anchor, Mojtaba Khamenei said he saw his father’s body after his death with raised, clenched fist.
The banners read in Arabic, English and Farsi: “We must rise.”
“This fist is the clenched fist of all us Muslims,” taxi driver Jafar Javadi said. “The leader’s fist is a sign all our fists are clenched and they (the enemies) will be destroyed with these fists, God willing. We will continue chanting death to America and death to Israel with the same clenched fist.”
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Iranian Supreme has been pushing this agenda for a while now.
The detail about khamenei’s flag-draped coffin sat at Tehran’s Grand Mosalla alongside family members killed in the Israeli airstrike that came in the first moments of the war on Feb is something people should sit with.
Think about it: video published by Iranian state media showed an earlier mourning ceremony Thursday night for Khamenei. That speaks volumes.
Reading that video published by Iranian state media showed an earlier mourning ceremony Thursday night for Khamenei — hard to argue with the logic there.
If religious leaders and foreign dignitaries walked up to Khamenei’s casket as a military band played or a man sang prayers, then the bigger picture starts to look very different.
In other words despite that, a powerful general who leads Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard emerged publicly for the first time in months for the funeral. Curious to see how this develops.
Reading that despite that, a powerful general who leads Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard emerged publicly for the first time in months for the funeral — hard to argue with the logic there.
On one hand video published by Iranian state media showed an earlier mourning ceremony Thursday night for Khamenei. But at the same time the country’s theocracy expects to see millions flood the streets of the capital beginning Saturday in scenes reminiscent of the burial of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989.
So the bottom line is video published by Iranian state media showed an earlier mourning ceremony Thursday night for Khamenei. Wonder how this will land.
Think about it: the country’s theocracy expects to see millions flood the streets of the capital beginning Saturday in scenes reminiscent of the burial of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989. That speaks volumes.
Considering despite that, a powerful general who leads Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard emerged publicly for the first time in months for the funeral, it raises some real questions about what happens next.
Zahra Mohammadi has been pushing this agenda for a while now.
Considering video published by Iranian state media showed an earlier mourning ceremony Thursday night for Khamenei, it raises some real questions about what happens next.
The bigger issue here is khamenei’s flag-draped coffin sat at Tehran’s Grand Mosalla alongside family members killed in the Israeli airstrike that came in the first moments of the war on Feb. That changes the calculation.
On one hand the country’s theocracy expects to see millions flood the streets of the capital beginning Saturday in scenes reminiscent of the burial of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989. But at the same time despite that, a powerful general who leads Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard emerged publicly for the first time in months for the funeral.